Jugar



(No Model.)

0. WELLS 8 8. JOHNSTONE.

SUGAR CANE JUICE FILTER. No. 389,427. Patented Sept. 11', 1888.

mime/0M1 4) whet ATENT FFiCEt OSBERN \VELLS AND SIIJAS JOHNSTONE, OF NEXVBERRY COURT-HOUSE, SOUTH CAROLINA.

SUGAR=CANEQJUICE FILTER.

$LPECIPICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 389,427, dated September 11, 1888.

Application filed May 8, 1588. Serial No. 273,184. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, OSBERN WnLLs and SILAS J OHNSTONE, citizens of the United States, residing at Ncwberry Court-House, in the county of Newberry and State of South Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SugarOaneJuice Filters; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to a filtering apparatus for purifying the juice of the sugarcane after it has been expressed therefrom; and it consists in the construction, arrangement,and combination of parts, substantially as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating our invention, Figure l is a vertical longitudinal sectional View of our improved sugarcane-jnice-filtering apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same.

Like letters of reference designate corre sponding parts in both the figures.

Itis well known to all persons experienced in the manufacture of sugar from thejuice of the sugar-cane that when this juice has been extracted from the cane by the operation of suitable machinery for that purpose the juice is filled with various kinds of impurities such as fine sand, particles of the stalk,juicecells, and other foreign substances--wl1ich must be removed therefrom in order to render it pure and clean. Besides these substances there is a kind of oily solution, not perceptible to the naked eye, which clogs a filter and requires a constant change of the filtering material through which the juice passes. Our invention aims to facilitate this change of the filtering material by so constructing the filtering apparatus that extra filteringsacks may be easily and quickly substituted for those which have been clogged or rendered unserviceable by reason of this oily solution in the canejuice; also, it may be stated that among the various impurities found in the cane-juice after it leaves the mill is a whitish milkylooking sediment, which it seems impossible to thoroughly filter from the juice; but, as

cleansing and purifying the cxpresscdjuice of V the sugar-cane stalks.

A denotes a tank which receives the juice of the sugar-cane, which is conveyed to it from the mill by some suitable conduit or passageas, for instance, the pipe to. (Shown in Fig. 1.) The tank A is kept covered, usually by means of a coarse cloth, I). This tank A occupies a position in the top of the apparatus, so that the juice of the cane may pass outward therefrom and fall by gravity into suitable filtering dcvices placed to receive it.

Our invention proceeds upon the principle of subjecting the cane-juice to successive filtrations; and for this purpose a series of fun nels or receptacles are provided, each one containing 21 mass of filtering material and each one located adjoining its predecessor, but in a lower position, the series being thus a descending series, and said funnels or receptacles being so arranged in connection with each other, by means of pipes and sediment-tanks,that the cane-juice is enabled to pass of its own accord through the enti re series of filters, and at length to emerge in a purified state in a tank placed to receive it at the end of the series of filters. It is of course obvious that we are confined to no special number of filtering funnels or devices, but that the series thereof may be composed of any number. In the present example of our invention we have chosen to represent six of these funnels, B O D E F G. Said funnels are made in any suitable form, size, and shape. Each one contains a mass of filtering material, which material is contained within a sack which rests within the funnel or box upon a perforated bottom. These perforated bottoms are lettered, respectively, in

the Various funnels B 0 D, E 13, and G. The filtering-sacks located within the funnels are respectively lettered 1%, S, T, U, V, and W, the sack It being located within the funnel B, the sack S within the funnel C, and so on. The filtering material preferably employed is coarse sand or sugar-cane seed; but other filtering material of any preferred kind may be used. these filtering-sacks are easily removable from the funnels or boxes that contain them, and that therefore when the filtering material becomes clogged the sack can easily be withdrawn and a fresh one substitutedin its place. The funnel or receptacle Bis the highest of the series. It is located beneath the spout A, which projects from the tank A, so that the juice, finding exit from the tank through spout A, falls at once into receptacle B and passes through the filtering material in the sack R. The receptacle B is supported by a vertical tube or pipe, I, which extends upward from the tank 0. After the juice, therefore, has passed through the filtering-sack R and the perforated plate 13, it will enter the pipe I and be conveyed to the tank 0. The pipe I 7 is supplied with a faucet, h, whereby the flow of the juice may be stopped when desired. The receptacle G is located close to the receptacle B, but in a slightlylower position. It is supported by the pipe J, which likewise extends upward from the tank 0, and is supplied with a faucet, c. Said receptacle 0 has a spout, C, which extends outward above the receptacle D, that adjoins the receptacle 0, and is supported on avertical pipe, K, extending upward from the sediment-tank P, which is situated adjacent to the tank 0. The pipe K has a cock, (I. The receptacle E is adjacent to the receptacle D, and is supported on the pipe L, that extends from the tank P, said pipe L having the cock e,and said receptacleE having the spout E. The receptacle F is located beneath the spout E, and is supported by the pipe M, fastened on the tank Q, which tank likewise supports the pipe N, that carries the receptacle G, having a spout, G. Said pipe N is provided with a cock, g.

The tank 0 is provided with a draw-off cock, Z, the tank 1? with a faucet, m, and the tank Q with a faucet, a. By means of these faucets the sediment that collects in the bottom of these tanks can be easily withdrawn. It will thus be apparent that when the sugarcane juice has passed from the pipe I into the tank 0, as above stated,itwill pass upward from the tank 0 in the direction of the arrow through the pipe J into the receptacle 0, through the perforated bottom 0 and then through the filtering-sack S. Afterward itwill find an exit from the receptacle 0 through spout G, will fall into the receptacle D,and pass through the filtering material of sack T, located in said receptacle. In a similar manner the juice will pursue its course through the sediment-tank P, the receptacles E and F, the tank Q, and

It is obvious at a glance that v the receptacle G. As the receptacles or funnels vary in their horizontal position, 1t is thus made possible for the sugar-cane juice which is in the tank A, that occupies a position higher than .any of the funnels, to pass and be successively and repeatedly filtered in the manner described. After the juice has passed through all the different filtering-sacks in the series of funnels, it will emerge through the spout G from the funnel G and enter the tank or reservoir H. This reservoir is provided with a partition, H, which reaches very close to the bottom-to within, say,about four inches of the bottom-so that when the juice enters the reservoir it is forced to pass downward and under this partition. This gives the sediment further time for settling. The reservoir is preferably independent from the filtering apparatus and not attached thereto. It has two faucets-an upper one, as t, and a lower one, as It. Through the upper one, as t, the juice 1s permitted to flow out and be removed therefrom.

The lower faucet, k, is used for the purpose of I drawing out free from sedi mentwhateverjuice remains that cannot be withdrawn by the cock i.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is V 1. The herein-described filtering apparatus for sugar-cane juice, which consists in a series of receptacles containing filtering material and having perforated bottoms, said receptacles being arranged at different heights, a series of vertical pipes carrying on their upper ends said receptacles and communicating therewith,and sediment-tanks that uphold the pipes and are entered by them,,all arranged for use, substantially as described.

2. In a filtering apparatus for sugar-cane juice, the combination of a series of one or more receptacles containing removable sacks of filtering material, vertical pipes supporting on their upper ends said receptacles, and sediment-tanks from which said pipes extend upward, substantially as described.

3. In a filtering apparatus for sugar-cane juice, the combination of a series'of one or more receptacles having perforated bottoms, said receptacles being located at different heights and some of them having projecting spouts, the vertical pipes of unequal length supporting on their upper ends said receptacles, and sediment-tanks, each of which supports the lower ends of two of said pipes, all said parts being arranged to permit the juice to flow from one receptacle to the other, substantially as described.

4. In a filtering apparatus for sugar-cane juice, the combination of the supply-tank for the juice, the series of filtering-receptacles containing removable sacks of filtering material and having perforated bottoms, the vertical pipes that support these receptacles, the sediment-tanks from which these vertical pipes extend upward, and the reservoir for receiving the purified juice, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in afiltering apparatus, of a series of filtering-receptacles, vertical pipes supporting them, and sediment-tanks upholding the pipes, all arranged for permitting a continued flow of the juice from one receptacle to the other, and a reservoir, H, for receiving the purified juice,having a partition, H, extending to near the bottom thereof and having faucets, substantially as described.

6. In a filtering apparatus, the combination of a sedimenttank, two vertical pipes extend ing upward therefrom of unequal heights, filtering-receptacles carried on the upper ends of these pipes,having perforated bottoms and containing removable sacks of filtering material, the tank for supplying juice to the first receptacle, and a reservoir for receiving the purified juice, substantially as described.

7. In a filtering apparatus for sugar cane juice, the combination of the series of funnels or receptacles B G D E F G, said receptacles being located at different heights, the pipes I J K L M N, for supporting said receptacles, the tanks 0 P Q, upon which said pipes are mounted, all the parts being arranged to permit a continuous flow of thejuice through all the receptacles of the series.

8. The combination of the series ofreceptacles B O D E F G, said receptacles being located at different heights and having respcctively the perforated bottoms B (3 D E F G, the removable filtering-sacks R ST U V \V, 10- cated,respectivelygvithin said receptacles, the upright pipes I J K L M N, carrying the re ceptacles on their upper ends, and the sediment-tanks that uphold the upright pipes, all arranged substantially as described.

9. In a filtering apparatus for sugar-cane juice, the combination of the funnels or receptacles B C D E F G, said funnel 0 having spout C, said funnel E having spout E, and said funnel G having spout G, all of said funnels having perforated bottoms and being arranged at unequal heights, the removable sacks of filtcring material located within the different funnels, the upright pipes carrying the receptacles and having faucets, and the sedimenttanks upholding said pipes and. likewise having faucets, all the parts arranged to accomplish the purposes hereinbefore specified.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

OSBERN WELLS. SILAS JOHNSTONE.

\Vitnesses:

WM. \VALEER HoUsnAL, XVILLIAM ZonnL. 

